Journey Into the North Discussion Thread (Old 4T thread)

So, are we splitting up or all going down the left fork? So far, Dono, Jack, Sab and I have all gone down the left path. Is that all, do the rest go down the other path?

Shouldn't Grif be flying ahead to scout? Just a couple of questions.

I think it would be pretty cool if we split up at some point in the storybook. There's quite a lot of characters in one place at the moment, and it's hard to keep track of all the personalities.

Also, is Fontroy gonna post?

I have this evil side of me that used to come to play in D&D, whereby people who didn't come to D&D once would find that character losing something precious, like a magical weapon, and a second time, er, dying. It's really quite hard to drag along characters, you see!

So characters become cannon-fodder where they come inactive? That why it's more realistic, because people will actually die!

EDIT: Ignore this now XD

Inactive characters become NPC's.

Killing off characters is frowned upon, since people can disappear for days, weeks, and months.

Trust me, it happens.

I'd rather have the character continue as a NPC instead of killing them off.

Fine, but we'll be dragging around characters for a long time now. Personally I think there's way too many people in the storybook already to make it workable, I prefer working with four or five people so the true writing comes through. Kind of like Four Treasures was, a tight-knit writing group.

Ahh, anyway. We'll see how it goes.

Hehehe, it really doesn't have to be that bad. Big storybooks can be wonderful for several reasons. With big storybooks full of competent writers, this forces us to look beyond just our character to the entire picture. For example, I may want my character to do this, but for the plot to sustain itself, I may have to sacrifice the stupid sideplot I was planning and make the storybook more awesome. When it all comes together, it'll be pure awesomeness. If awesomeness is indeed a word...

Yeah. But don't get scared now! It's only the beginning.

Ok, so we're currently dining with thieves right? Men who have been in the area far longer then us and so know it that much better. Around the camp fire they can tell us everything they know about the area, the rumours concerning just what is contained in the Wilds and perhaps, (my suggestion) about a concentration and banding together of the hitherto individual companies of theives/mercenaries/highwaymen due to what they call "the King's Purge". That's not to say all our enemies will be human, for we know the Bandits could have joined with some dark goblins.

I think we can do a lot more with this if we have an enemy in mind, say, a Bandit King. Or anything really, lol. Just throwing some ideas around. Tell me what ya think.

I think it would be interesting if Alden's "Friend" betrayed him.

I was thinking the same.

Okay then. Way too disregard everything I said lmao. Well then, Alden's friend can betray him.

Well, there could still be a common enemy, but then the group cpuld be betrayed at the last moment, when they are the most vulnerable (ie when they are fighting the common enemy).

Okay, I set up some action. I was thinking that this would not be an attack by Hooper's men, but something else that Hooper and his men would fight alongside the party. Then they would gain a little trust from them.

I'm moving Alden to pick up Ursa for the story. I think that the thieves should attack within that hour my character is gone.

That way, they'll be suspicious of Alden, they think he set them up. The thing that stops them from acting is the presence of Ursa, who serves as an alibi. Still, they would be suspicious.

That's my idea for adding internal conflict to the group anyways.

I've been working on a new plot, since Sabradan has expressed a dislike for the current one.

This new plot has to deal with the end of four treasures, from which this storybook is derived.

Here's the idea, let me know what you think.

When Four Treasures stopped, the group was heading towards a holy city, in order to consult with the high priest there. They met the high priest and asked him where their enemy was. He pointed them towards the west.

The group moved west, where they encountered an army with over 1000 men. The situation was tense, each member of the group prepared for an impossible battle.

Then, Seraph had an epiphany.

He realized at that moment that this entire thing was a set up. Their enemy had been five steps ahead of them the entire time. No man could do that, it would take someone with a vision of the future.

The only person who could do that was the high priest.

The group met with the army, who in turn went with them to kill the high priest, who was the enemy to begin with.

As the army approached, the High Priest summoned his religious fanatics. The final battle had begun.

The army crashed through the fanatics. Priests called up demons to attack the army. The group then charged the priests, killing them all. The army fought with the demons, even as the group entered the keep of the high priest.

They met no resistance and upon entering, they met the high priest. He was not defenseless though. He was a combat mage, a person who used magic to heighten his reflexes, his speed, and his strength. His foresight allowed him an advantage to all there.

One by one, they engaged him, but he was too strong. He dodged Valin's arrows, he tossed Seraph across the room. Everyone was being beaten up.

Seraph was on the ground when the High Priest came over to finish him.

Thaden saw this and quickly leaped to attack the high priest. A battle ensued, with Thaden blocking attack after attack. The group was gaining ground.

Thaden grew cocky, he was winning! The enemy was baiting him though. Thaden took the bait. In a smooth motion, Thaden's head went flying from his body, killed by the high priest.

Sira had been connected to Thaden, she was his lifebond. With him dead, she became mad with rage.

She ordered the others members of the group to run for it.. They didn't wish to go, but she forced them to leave.

Valin perceived this time and the group began to draw back it's forces.

Inside the chamber, the gryphon and the priest stalked each other. A battle of magic ensued. Power streaked across the chamber, hitting magical shields. What happened next was astonishing. Sira tapped into the magical node beneath the city, the source of high priests power. From there she tapped into other nodes around the world. After taking that power, she dropped her shields. The high priest killed her.

The energy gathered was held by Sira's mind. Once it disappeared, the concentrated power became uncontrolled. The resulting blast leveled the city, killed the high priest, and completely shattered the arcane magics.

The others had made it to safety, the enemy was defeated.

The situation 30 years later hasn't improved. Magic is being relearned, the old ways no longer work, so the new ways must be discovered.

Magical systems have been shattered, magical energy is strewn about everywhere. The heroes head North to expand the territory, but they discover the remains of a civilization long dead. Inside is an artifact that can restore the magical systems.

But the priesthood was not destroyed, it has endured. They're also looking for this artifact.

So, what do you think? It provides a solid enemy (instead of a rag tag group of thieves and villians), it allows for lots of bad creatures (the demons left over from the great battle), and it also gives us a solid objective.

Well, I like it better than this one, but,
1. I don't think Valin would be one to run
2. I don't like the fact that the old ways are "gone" and that they need to "relearn" everything. Where does that put Valin, who is almost Iconic of the old days/old ways?
But overall its more believeable/better than this one.

Works. We discussed it last night, and I'm satisfied with the result.

I like it.